Education Schools Flunking Math
Elementary School Teachers Poorly Prepared To Teach Math, Study Finds
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An unidentified teacher writes math problems on a blackboard. A new study finds that education schools are doing a poor job of preparing teachers to teach math. (AP)
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Elementary-school teachers are poorly prepared by education schools to teach math, finds a study being released Thursday by the National Council on Teacher Quality.
Math relies heavily on cumulative knowledge, making the early years critical.
The study by the nonpartisan research and advocacy group comes a few months after a federal panel reported that U.S. students have widespread difficulty with fractions, a problem that arises in elementary school and prevents kids from mastering more complicated topics like algebra later on.
The report looked at 77 elementary education programs around the country, or roughly 5 percent of the institutions that offer undergraduate elementary teacher certification.
It found the programs, within colleges and universities, spend too little time on elementary math topics.
Author Julie Greenberg said education students should be taking courses that give them a deeper understanding of arithmetic and multiplication. She said the courses should explain how math concepts build upon each other and why certain ideas need to be emphasized in the classroom.
Teacher candidates know their multiplication tables, but "they don't come to us knowing why multiplication works the way it does," said Denise Mewborn, who heads the University of Georgia department of math and science education.
The university was cited in the report for having an "exemplary program," while nine others met basic requirements. The rest offered too little math coursework or coursework that was considered weak, according to the report.
The University of Georgia requires teacher candidates to take courses to help them understand concepts underlying elementary-school math, as well as math courses not designed for teachers.
The report found significant differences in the number and kind of courses required by each education program.
Education schools also are not being selective enough, the report stated. Most require applicants to take an admissions test, usually around their sophomore year of college. But the test, which typically includes reading, writing and math sections, is far too easy, according to the report.
"Almost anyone can get in. Compared to the admissions standards found in other countries, American education schools set exceedingly low expectations for the mathematics knowledge that aspiring teachers must demonstrate," said the report.
U.S. children often fall in the middle or bottom of the pack when compared to other students on international math tests.
Jane West, vice president of government relations for the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, said her organization had not received a copy of the report Wednesday. The National Council on Teacher Quality plans to release it publicly at a news conference Thursday.
The report also criticized the tests education students take when they complete their coursework, which are generally relied on by states in granting teacher licenses. In many cases, the prospective teachers are judged on an overall score only, meaning they could do badly on the math portion but still pass if they do well in the other areas.
Since states oversee the preparation of the nation's school teachers, the report recommends they set tougher coursework and testing standards.
Francis Fennell, the past president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, said the report fails to examine the math instruction students receive while attending community colleges, where many elementary-school teachers start their higher education.
He also said the study's authors should have surveyed teachers to get their views on how well prepared they were to teach math.
Fennell, who instructs teacher candidates in math at McDaniel College in Westminster, Md., said a common area of weakness among his students is fractions - the same subject the national math panel described as a weak area for kids. "Part of the reason the kids don't know it is because the teachers aren't transmitting that," he said.
To boost teachers' understanding of math, the math departments at universities ought to place more emphasis on training educators, Fennell added.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



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See all 99 CommentsIn school systems where more active minds are controlled with Ritalin, should this be a surprise?
When the government guts public education budgets, and creates "vouchers," which is essentially welfare for private schools, and thus encourages the schools to pass everyone regardless of their aptitude, in order to qualify for more "food stamps," should this be a surprise?
When the government feels the need to "dumb down" the populace, in the hope that it''s corruption will not be fathomable, and thus easier to get away with, should this be a surprise?
I guess i am old school i still like to use logic.
Posted by maxify55 at 07:43 AM : Jun 26, 2008
+ report abuse
What is it with you Nazi''s?? You obviously CAN read to some extent unless you have a 6 year old at your side telling you what is being said. So why can''t you read and understand what is reported?? The Report shows that the TEACHERS being hired are NOT qualified to teach the course! Yet this poor Nazi goes off on attacking Parents who he does NOT know and the possibility that we MUST pay people who are qualified. AMAZING!! The Fascist Mind is truly AMAZING! Now stand... let the Fuhrer and the Reich Hear ya today!! SIEG HEIL BUSH!! Dumb as DIRT!!
Posted by antixlayer at 02:16 AM : Jun 26, 2008
Look School Districts must hire those whom they can afford to hire. With the lower tax base and lower property values they have very little cash to pay and thus they can only hire what is available at the scale they can afford to pay. You want better teachers?? Then you will have to PAY for better teachers. It''s that simple. Sieg Heil Bush
Posted by antixlayer at 02:16 AM : Jun 26, 2008
Look School Districts must hire those whom they can afford to hire. With the lower tax base and lower property values they have very little cash to pay and thus they can only hire what is available at the scale they can afford to pay. You want better teachers?? Then you will have to PAY for better teachers. It''s that simple. Sieg Heil Bush
Posted by MCVet at 07:57 AM : Jun 26, 2008
The funds that could be used to pay for better teachers are being used for the teaching of creationism.
These people don''t need math--it''s the work of the devil used by the lib scientists to push their evolution agenda.
This article clears it right up. They were( well most were)
I only had a handfull of teachers that sounded like they knew what they were talking about. Those are the ones that I paid attention to.
Maybe that''s a way too to get more men into the system - like isn''t the system dominated by female teachers and aren''t boys falling behind and lacking role models? Maybe that''ll help counter that . . .
Posted by Nancy_Naive at 08:52 AM : Jun 26, 2008
Sarcasm will get you no where Nancy.
Maybe you should explain your statement then.
Cheers
Posted by libsluv2spit at 09:21 AM : Jun 26, 2008
I don''t think her over inflated ego would stand for that.
-- Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instrutor .
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And that''s from our military leaders. Sheeezz
When I was in college the only people who went into education were the ones who flunked out of something else. Those who flunked out of the biology program or computer science or engineering all went into education. In other words those who were too dumb to do something else became teachers. That is a terrible way to get teachers. We push these idiots off on our children then wonder why they can''t learn. We must pay better in order to get better qualified people as teachers.
I see your ego is starting to run away again, However do you get that fat head thru the front door Nancy?
Regards,
Posted by Nancy_Naive at 09:56 AM : Jun 26, 2008
You need to go back and re-learn how to read, your comprehension skills are sorely lacking.
I spend my time jousting with educators that require students to know more math than they need for the career they want.
Is it surprising that math teachers, who get paid to teach math, say we should know more math?
I ask all of you reading this to be part of a survey. Post on this list the last the you had to multiply a fraction - except in the kitchen.
I am over 65 and have never bumpted into a linear equation or quadratic equation since leaving graduate school. In fact I can not remember when I had to multiply a fraction - oh I do add them but I never seem to have to multiply two fractions to pay my taxes.
Well - being in education I would certainly like to know what people out there really use for math.
For me the problem is not the teachers it is the standards that are meaningless to children.
The uneducated led by the Alzheimer''''s patients.
Posted by Nancy_Naive at 09:14 AM : Jun 26, 2008
+ re
If you are an example of higher education God help us all
Usually, an over inflated ego is a sign of idiocy and coupled with a rigidness that can''t comprehend anything but their own agenda. Which in Nancys case right wing views, and screw the next guy.
Apparently she has a mistrust of men too. Probably spurned as a young lady. Now she is a lonely spinster.
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This is the ONLY post I have seen so far that touches on the real problem, the use of calculators to do math assignments.
Quote from article: %u201CMath relies heavily on cumulative knowledge, making the early years critical%u201D.
In my time, simple arithmetic was generally taught one step at a time, beginning with addition and subtraction, masking it easier to comprehend the more complicated division and multiplication.
This knowledge is also stored in the student%u2019s brain one step at a time, and prepares him/her to more easily understand the next step in mathematical functions, all the way up the ladder of learning.
With the advent of calculators and use of it by students, cumulative knowledge normally stored in the student%u2019s brain is now stored in their calculators.
This is the fault of BOTH parents and teachers/schools, whether intentional or not.
LOL! They certainly are very "prepared" to take my hard earned property tax dollars that I am raped for every year! I am nothing more then an ATM machine for my school district. Most retired folks today are being foreclosed on because of outrageous school taxes.
I''ll tell you mine,,if you tell me yours.
C''mon Nancy are you really satisfied with the no child left behind, and our education system as it is. Please expand and let us know why you are so pleased.
LOL! They certainly are very "prepared" to take my hard earned property tax dollars that I am raped for every year! I am nothing more then an ATM machine for my school district. Most retired folks today are being foreclosed on because of outrageous school taxes.
Posted by starleo14672 at 10:14 AM : Jun 26, 2008
It makes her feel superior to know that the education system are churning out idiots. A club that clearly, she belongs with.
Posted by Nancy_Naive at 10:11 AM : Jun 26, 2008
Don''t fear me Nancy I won''t hurt you, just answer the question, or didn''t they teach you how to do that in your school. Were you ever in a debate class
Tsk Tsk Tsk
Posted by mitchoncbs at 10:21 AM : Jun 26, 2008
There you go, congratulations sir, this is so right what this gentleman said. I wish our system would pay more attention to learning, and if they would just teach they would learn. In my day the teachers were teaching because they loved it, all this garbage thrown in by no child left behind and everything else they forget what they are there for.
They were stupid Nancy,,,Not sure who Johnax is,,but I didn''t say that no one needed math, in fact,,I didn''t say a word on the subject.
Just said that most of my teachers were stupid, and they were!
Just like you,,,,,Cheers
You have hit the nail on the head. Orderly, respectful classrooms are critical to the educational process, be it math or anything else. When teachers stared showing up for work in casual clothing and trying to be buddies with the student body, it was the end of an era of learning and what we see is what we deserve for allowing this.
The bright, motivated kids will always do well but the others have been dealt a blow of giant proportion and are being short changed. Their lives will less for it.
The only people that went into education at the university I attended were those who flunked out of something else. Those who were too dumb to get a degree in biology or computer science or engineering went into education. That is the Problem.
And you have me pegged wrong. You need to go back and read the posts to me, from Nancy. I am just fighting for my honor, against some over inflated ego. Thats all I''m doing.
And I would never assume that all I say is right,,and everyone else is wrong. I know better, and now so do you.
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